11. What are your favorite novels, books, and short stories, both in and out of SW?

12. What are your favorite comics and graphic novels, both in and out of SW?

11. As mentioned, I'm a big fan of ASoIaF and I also enjoy GRRM's other books, although I've certainly not read them all. I enjoyed a lot of the NJO, although I have skipped some of the "side" novels upon reread. Favorite SW novels would be Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor and Tattooine Ghost, although Denning has disappointed me as of late. TTT stands out as some of the tightest novels in the EU, but I'm not a great fan of Mara. Zahn gets Han and Leia's characterization right on, and as might have been noticed around here, that matters to me. Other notable authors I like: Kurt Vonnegut, Phillip K Dick, Hubert Selby, Charles Bukowski. I reread To Kill a Mockingbird at least once a year. I was a big Harry Potter fan - I read it first and then I read it aloud to my kids when they were old enough. I also read a lot of YA fiction, to keep abreast of what my kids are reading.

12. I did not read a lot of comics as a kid. My mother didn't feel they were worthwhile reading, and therefore not a legitimate expense. I tried whenever possible to read Spiderman, which I had discovered on Electric Company on PBS. I married a comic reader, and we have his collection. I let my kids read comics, and they also love Spiderman - and were faithful readers of The Ultimate Spiderman for several years. I'm also a fan of Bone and Saga (thanks Coop). I love graphic novels - Blankets and Persepolis stand out in my mind at the moment.

eta. As for SW comics, I've read some of the old Marvel stuff, which is distinctly weird and delightful at the same time. I prefer the Dark Horse stuff and I loved DE in particular. I started reading Star Wood, but gave up when it became clear they didn't know what to do with Han. Still baffling to me.

@krtmd13. What was your reaction to Disney's purchase of SW, and what are your hopes for the sequel trilogy?

14. From the very beginning SW broke the mold on the role women would play in a story, and TCW kept that spirit alive. What are your thoughts on the representation of women in SW, and in "nerd culture" in general, and how that has evolved over the years?

13. What was your reaction to Disney's purchase of SW, and what are your hopes for the sequel trilogy?

14. From the very beginning SW broke the mold on the role women would play in a story, and TCW kept that spirit alive. What are your thoughts on the representation of women in SW, and in "nerd culture" in general, and how that has evolved over the years?

13. Complete shock, followed by a brief period of wailing. From my kids. Honestly, it had never occurred to me that Lucas would sell, so I was really surprised. I was then pretty excited to hear we'd be getting new movies. And then I started to think about it. I'm not opposed to new SW material per se, but I don't have a lot of faith that Disney will be making decisions based on their love for the stories and characters. They're a huge, publicly owned corporation. Granted, they make films - not shoes - but IMO they're not particularly interested in what's gone before. Moving forward as "Disney's Star Wars" is what's going to be important to them. Understandable of course. But I'm not sure I'm going to be on the train the way I have in the past. I'm not sure I have a lot of hopes for the ST, other than my desire for the trilogy to be centered on a female character.

14. The character of Leia Organa hit me like a ton of bricks back in the 70s. She was smart and sassy, spoke her mind and people listened. She was part of the command structure in a military organization. It wasn't until I was much older that I realized she was still almost the only woman who spoke in the films. Of course, I think they squandered the character in ROTJ, even though I know all you boys loved Slave Leia. But there's no denying that her character changed the representation of women in science fiction and action movies. (It's too bad that Lucas sidelined his own groundbreaking with Padme. *sigh* ) And I think it's because of a character like Leia that we end up with a great characters like Ripley or Katniss Everdeen. Of course, there's a long way to go. A female lead in the ST would be incredible, and might even make me change my mind about Disney's SW.

I wish this transferred to "nerd culture" a little more - at least outside the Lit forum. I've been told multiple times that SW is really for boys. The first time was the summer of '77, when we played SW in the street with sticks for blasters and lightsabers. The most recent would be on the EVII forum sometime after the ST speculation began. Heck, there's a thread there about how a female lead in the ST would only mean that Disney is pandering to the Hunger Games audience. It ran for 34 pages before being locked. That tells me "nerd culture" has a long way to go. And one of the reasons I continue to hang around the Lit forum. The Diversity thread's existence, and the warm welcome I received here as a woman goes a long way to overcoming the sexism and hostility I've encountered elsewhere. And it's certainly not limited to the SW community. I've encountered a lot of inherent sexism in the ASoIaF online community as well.

15. What is your opinion of the Star Wars Holiday Special, and would you prefer it with or without RiffTrax?

16. If you could live on any planet in the GFFA, which would it be and why?

15. The SW Holiday Special is a hot mess, but somewhat delightful all the same. Those of us who grew up in the 70s were treated to countless of these kinds of "family variety specials" with "special guest stars" and "musical numbers". It was obviously an old model of programming combined with a television network's desire to catch a shooting star, in this case Star Wars. TBH, the fact that it happened doesn't seem nearly as strange as what they aired. OTOH, this was the age of things like Sid and Marty Krofft. And without it, we'd have never been treated to Harrison Ford's worst recorded performance, Carrie Fisher singing as Leia, Wookiee family dynamics, and the Boba Fett cartoon. I've never seen it with RiffTrax, but I'm sure it could only improve upon the original.

16. Corellia. Modern world, technologically advanced, proud people with an independent streak. Oh, and those ships.

20. What person involved in SW would you want to meet most, dead or alive, and why? (ie actor, writer, director, artist, etc.)

19. Poverty, marriage equality, civil rights, wage disparity and the growing chasm between the have and the have-nots, gun control, the stupidity of the war on drugs, clean water, climate change. I'm your basic bleeding heart liberal.

Sorry to be so late with a reply. My daughter decided to break some fingers today.

21. Pay off my mortgage, actually fund my kids' college funds, let my husband quit his job and be the full-time painter he was meant to be. Put my money where my mouth is on all those social causes I mentioned up thread.

22. This is the question I was dreading. I really wanted to try and recall something truly hilarious, but all I can think of is the time when my mom's bathing suit top was swept away by the waves -- at our family reunion at the beach. My uncle laughed for days.

22. This is the question I was dreading. I really wanted to try and recall something truly hilarious, but all I can think of is the time when my mom's bathing suit top was swept away by the waves -- at our family reunion at the beach. My uncle laughed for days.

Oh wow... now that is legitly hilarious... in all the most awkward ways.

I hope your daughter's ok! That's awful. They weren't useful fingers on the hand she uses all the time, were they? That's the worst.

Hey,
@krtmd would you mind explaining why you dislike Mara Jade? I'm not trying to attack you or start an argument, I'm genuinely curious since you have a good grasp on Star Wars lore as it is.

No worries. I don't hate Mara Jade or anything - in fact, there are definite moments where I like her. The NJO, for instance. It's probably not a new thing to say that Zahn has his pet characters and he has a tendency to elevate them above some of the original characters. Sometimes her characterization is a little Mary Sue-ish for my tastes. I know that word gets bandied about too often, but sometimes the shoe fits. And sometimes Mara is just a little too perfect for every situation. Smuggler, assassin, Force-sensitive, gorgeous, looks great in a catsuit, fantastic pilot, etc... Are we to think her **** don't stink as well?

1. Tell us about your username, why you chose it, what it means, etc. And what is the best way to address you?

Gamiel is originaly the name of one of the four iron elf princes in the swedish RPG GENIMI, I used it as a LARP name for a short time and then used it as a username on Deviantart and the Comic Book Resources fourm and now it has stuck.
Best Way to address me? Right now I guess that "Good man" fits since I lack any kind of title and I think I am to old to be "Young man" also if you are Scandinavian I think that “Neighbour” could work

2. What made you sign up for the Jedi Council Forums? Do you post on any other forums?

I actually found my way here thanks to Karen Traviss. It was an ordinary day and I was losing time at TVtropes and one of the pages (I think it was 'Mary Suetopia', 'Depending on the Writer' or ‘Writer on Board’) was mentioning her and I had been outside of the EU for along time so all that was news for me. Knowing that TVtropes is not the most reliable of sources but with an awakened interest to find out what it really was about, I googled Traviss and Star Wars and one of the links presented was A question on Karen Traviss and her work(s). I begun to read and found the language and arguments on both sides good and most of the time well spoken so I continued. After spending some time reading that thread I begun to look around on other threads here and wanted to comment and ask questions so I joined. So here I am

@Gamiel3. Where are you from? What are some of the best parts about where you live?

I am from Sweden: Tungelsta (a municipality of Stockholm) and the province Småland (were a lot of Astrid Lindgren’s stories take place) to be precise, and is right now living in one of the central districts of Stockholm.The best part of were I live is probably that it is close to Stockholm public library, within walking distance of the University, Sergels Torg (Sergel's Square) - were Serieteket (ca. the Comic library) lies, and Old Town you find Science Fiction-bokhandeln – the best place to buy nerd things in Stockholm. I can also without problem walk to at least three comics shops and one library that has a large collection of RPG:s, both Swedish and English-language once. That the city over all is full of nice buildings (even if Helsinki beat us when it comes to modern architecture), have many good (if a bit expensive for a student budget) restaurants and food stands is also something to be glad of.And to top it all it takes me less then one hour with car (around one hour with train) to get to my mothers farm that is outside of Tungelsta

4. What places have you traveled too? Any favorite locations?

I have spent most of my time inside Sweden and mostly around Stockholm and in Småland but I have been skiing in Härjedalen and sailing in the archipelago along the coast. I have also been in the High Coast and I can really recommend the nature up there, not that the nature along the rest of the cost is something to look down on. Outside of Sweden I have been in Ethiopia (once and I was rather young); France (once); Switzerland (once and only saw the mountains); Germany (once as part of my Gymnasium language course); England (five times, both as part of studies and on holidays; I have mostly been in London (were I, among other things, visited Forbidden Planet) and in Bournemouth); and last year I spend some days in Helsinki, Finland and I am still envious of the amount of France-Belgian comics that they have translated that don’t exist in Swedish.